Quick hits from the Renteria conference call

Edgar Renteria said he’s excited to be a Giant because they pursued him harder than any other team. He’s working out hard this winter to improve his speed, range and flexibility.

GM Brian Sabean said Renteria would be the everyday No.2 hitter. Manager Bruce Bochy agreed, saying he envisions him in that spot.

Sabean said it was clear from watching Emmanuel Burriss and Kevin Frandsen in the Arizona Fall League that the club needed more experience up the middle. Frandsen, Burriss and Eugenio Velez would appear to be fighting for at-bats at second base. Sabean didn’t disagree with that notion, but said he’s “not sure how we’re rating anybody till we sit down at the winter meetings. The coaches will have their hands full in spring training. That’s the least of our worries right now.”

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Bochy is thrilled to get a player with Renteria’s experience and offensive ability. Renteria also said he’s excited to be back in the NL, where he feels his game is best suited. “The American League is different,” he said. “You have to wait for the big home run.”

He’d better not do that as a Giant.

Andrew Baggarly

Andrew Baggarly has witnessed and documented the most eventful era in San Francisco Giants baseball history, having covered the team since 2004 for th​ree major media outlets including the San Jose Mercury News and the Oakland Tribune​. This will be his 20th season as a baseball writer.
​Baggarly is the author of the bestselling book, A Band of Misfits: Tales of the 2010 San Francisco Giants. A second title, Giant Splash, is due to be published by Triumph Books in April 2015.
Baggarly’s other notable life accomplishments include running as the Bratwurst in the Milwaukee Sausage Race and becoming a three-time Jeopardy! champion.

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The chances of one of Burriss/Velez/Frandsen being able to stick at the ML level are decent. The chances of two of them are slim.

Besides, if Renteria flops, the worst you have is Burriss. Much better then Burriss flopping and getting stuck with Ochoa/Bocock.

D

Good deal. 2 Years doesn’t block anyone coming up. Also, at SS the Giants depth isn’t there anyway. This is not comparable to bad Rowand, Roberts, etc. signings because the length is short term. Maybe Sabean has learned a bit from his past. This seems more sensible than Furcal for 4/48.

So, two hours ago I was fighting mad about the possibility of Renteria joning the club. Now he’s here, so I move on. Burriss is a big leaguer, Sabes said as much at the close of the season and we all watched him with our own eyes, so he should be the 2B. Frandsen, Ochoa and Velez fates seem to be with another team or dying on the vine in the minors or on a major league bench. Those guys will all be 26 to start the season. I’d like to be 26 again, it’s not old for a human, but a prospect……I’m guessing Noonan, Bocock (if he figures our how to use the wood stick you hit the ball with), and Downs are the names we should get used to bandying about. Me thinks Sabes will come home with a 3B with power from the winter meetings.

Tony, I don’t like Burrell, and CC is a long shot, but your scenarios in the last post got me scratching my chin. I could forget about the kids if the Giants are winning the division.

Will

18 mil for Renteria? seriously? I hate this signing. Luckily it’s only 2 years, so the pain will be relatively short, but come on. I’d rather play the youth than this guy.

bandwagon

I love how players try to act like playing in the NL or AL is so much different. Pitch, hit, catch. Repeat.

Tony

TheGuinch:
Burrell wouldn’t be MY first choice either but that is a name that has been rumored so I went with it. Myself, I’d MUCH rather we had home grown talent so we could build a winner, MUCH cheaper I might add, that had a legit shot year after year. Our farm system while it’s improving, is stll not at that level.

As we’ve seen before, if you get to the post season with a strong rotation you have a chance to win.

Tony

Bandwagon: It’s the same game but it IS a different mentallity between the 2 leagues and it is fair to say some players are more condusive to one versus the other. Will Clark was NEVER the same hitter in the AL that he was in NL. When you have a DH you can sit back and wait for someone to launch one. In the NL you have that almost sure out every 9 AB’s so you have to manufacture more.

prima facie

It would really be nice to read Baggarly’s actual news story on this, but as usual the inexplicably buggy Merc web site won’t open that page. Not sure if anyone else has this continuing trouble, but I often can’t get stories to full open. I see the top banner, the links on the left, maybe ads on the right but the story won’t appear and then the page freezes up. This often happens with Ann Killion columns, for whatever reason. This happens on my computers at home and at work, both of which have broadband connections.

I’ve sent e-mails to the Webmaster and to the publisher that haven’t been acknowledged, so we know how seriously the Merc takes customer service.

Baggarly and his colleagues do some fine work. Just too bad some of it can’t be seen.

prima facie

Agreed, Bandwagon. NL vs. AL is highly overrated. Baseball is baseball, except for that abomination the designed hitter. But that doesn’t affect a .290 career hitting shortstop.